Putter with alignment facilitating and weighting means



Oct 1958 A. J. ANTONIOUS 3,408,074

PUTTER WITH ALIGNMENT FACILITATING AND WEIGHTING MEANS Filed June 9,1965 ANTHONY J. Awromous INVENTOR United States Patent 3,408,074 PUTIERWITH ALIGNMENT FACILITATIN AND WEIGHTING MEANS Anthony J. Antonious,Baltimore, Md., assignor, by direct and mesne assignments, to The AjacCorporation, Baltimore, Md. Filed June 9, 1965, Ser."No. 462,573 1 2Claims. (Cl. 273-164) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A putter is providedwith a weighted spherical section of the same shape and size as a golfball. The spherical section is rigid with the top of the putter head andpositioned on a line where the putter Contacts the ball. The sphericalsection is cut at a rearward angle to a vertical plane so that whenviewed from above the cut sector presents an alignment indicia.

This improvement relates to the art of golf clubs, and more particularlyto putters which include improved means for facilitating the alignmentof the club for stroking the ball and for weighting the club head.

In the art of golf numerous constructions have been proposed for golf"clubs to Weight the club head and to allegedly improve alignment of theclub with the ball prior to stroking the same. However, as shown by thelack of significant adoption of these club constructions by the averagegolfer, it could be said that the prior art arrangements are less thancompletely successful. Accordingly, it is the object of this inventionto provide a golf club with an alignment arrangement and combined clubhead weighting means which will hold the golfers attention and willutilize the golfers natural instinct to cause him to align the ball,club head and target quickly and positively.

True or square alignment of a golf club face is difiicult to obtain andto repeat with accuracy. Lack of assurance creates tension and anxietywhich causes the golfer to lose concentration and/or become taut. Thiswill cause a golfer to have faulty timing in his stroke and erraticmotion in his swing, which can cause the ball to be pushed, pulled,topped and other undesirable results. This invention provides alignmentmeans using an alignment image having the exact spherical profile anddiameter of the golf ball.

Visual alignment by aligning-the profile of two like objects, such as isaccomplished by the putter of this invention, intensifies a golfersconcentration to such a degree that it relaxes a golfers faculties asrequired for accurate putting. Use of the putter of this invention willminimize or eliminate existing distortion of the peripheral vision. Agolfer encounters this when putting in the usual style with theshoulders parallel to a straight line from ball to cup.

The golf club of this invention has concentrated weight exactly behindand above the percussion area or sweetspot of club. This Weightdistribution principle permits a more solid blow to be delivered to ballby club face at impact. A smoother pendulum swing feel is created toallow a free release of putter head to back of ball by golfer whenputting with the putter of this invention. A more true and longer rollof the ball is produced by such an application of weight distribution.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the followingdescription and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings,which disclose, by way of example, the principle of the invention andthe best mode which has been contemplated of applying that principle. 7

In the drawings:

' plied to a mallet head putter;

3,408,074 Patented Oct. 279, 1968 FIG. 1 is a perspective view of thisinvention as ap? FIG. 2 is a top plan 'view of the mallet head putter ofFIG. 1 when properly positioned in alignment with a ball; FIG. 3 is anend elevation view of the putter of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a top plan view ofthis invention as applied to a blade type putter; I

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the blade type putter in cluding theprinciples of this invention;

Referring to the drawings, FIGS. 1-3 illustrate the principles of thisinvention as applied to mallet head putter. In these figures a golf club10 is a mallet head putter type and it includes the usual club shaft 12and club head 14. The club and'ball alignment facilitating meanscombined with weighting means, which is the subject of this invention.is indicated generally at 16 and includes a weighted spherical section18 which may be cast brass or the like having an external surface 20preferably simulating the cover of a golf balland always havingsubstantially the same size and shape, namely 1.68 inches diameter thesame as a regulation golf ball. The spherical section 18 is rigidlyattached at 22 to the head 12, or may be formed integrally therewith. Itis important that the point of attachment is generally at the percussionwhere the club would ordinarily meet the golf ball GB in a manner shownin FIG. 2. As noted in FIGURES 1-4, the spherical section defines ahemispherical mass when viewed from above.

The spherical section is sliced or cut to provide a face 24 which whenviewed from above as shown in FIG. 2 appears as a sector of a circle 26.This section may be darkened by any suit-able means to provide acontrast against the white of the ball and the green of the grass tofacilitate alignment. The curvature of the circular section 26, thecurvature of the ball and the curvature of the target, if it is the edgeof a cup in a green, will all be in alignment. The curved circle of thesector 26, the curved surface 20 of the spherical section 18, and thecurved surface of the ball (see FIGURE 2) tend to cause the golfer byhis instinct and human nature to align the club properly with the ball.If desired, indicia sector 26 could be continued on the club face belowthe top of the putter to provide a complete'circular indicia of golfball diameter.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the principles of this invention can also beapplied to a blade type putter 30. The putter includes the usual shaft32 and head 34 to which this invention is applied. A spherical weightedsection 36 is formed integrally with or rigidly attached to the bladehead at the point where the blade would meet the ball as shown in FIG.4. The section 36 has an external surface 38 simulating the cover of theball and is sliced to provide a sector of a circle 40 when viewed fromabove as shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 5 shows a front perspective of the club.The principles of this invention are also applicable to other shapes ofputters, for example a stirrup shape putter having the toe and heel ofthe club face both attached to the shaft.

In order to prevent the club from digging too deeply into the groundduring a stroke pontoon like projection or deflection, skids areprovided on the bottom of the club head. These are shown as projection28 in FIG. 3, and projections 39, 39 in FIG. 5. These projections ordeflection skids may be pontoon shaped as shown or they may be othervarious shapes to deflect the club head sole and edge from hitting toofat i.e. taking too large a divot. Although two deflectors are shownthere may be more of them on the sole of the club.

In all of the embodiments the weighted spherical sec- 0 tion ispositioned on the club head in alignment at or percussion ,center ofthe, club head. Further, theexternal surface simulating a golf ballcover is aesthetically pleasing. Most important, the sector of a circleused for alignment-purposes with either the putters or irons provides apair of circular s urfaees'wlieri considered with the surface of theball to be addressed by the club-and aligned tothe center of these twocircles sh ould point to.- vvard the target. If the target is a cup,ther e in effect are three 'circular surfaces having their centers on aline between the center of the cup, thecenter of the ball and thecenterof the alignment circleon the club head.

The visual aid which provides exact image, contour or silhouettealignment means positioned at the proper loca tion, i.e. the so-called,sweet-spot, has the following advantages i i 'A'. golfer can align clubface of the putter to the ball quicker and true than with conventionalputters.

A golfer feels more confind'ent and assured that ball is properlyaligned to sweet-spot of club face. ',Slightest deviation can be ea'silyobserved by golfer before he starts club swing. I A golfers concentratonis intensified so that he has only one prime object to think about atthe timealignment of the exact image on theclub to back side of ball tobe struck. This means of alignment, permits the golfer to visually checkfor squareness of club face to ball and target. Alignment by use oflikeobjects will minimize if not eliminate any distortion to a golfrs vision(perspective, depth or peripheral).

A golfer will automatically be sighting or aligning bottom edge of clubhead. Golfers often mistakenly use top edge of club face, which tiltsconsiderably depending on selection of a club, to align or square-up toball.

Use of the alignment arrangement will permit a golfer to acquireconfidence in his swing much quicker than other clubs. Consequently,greater skill and ability will be attained in a shorter period of timethan required by other clubs.

Having an image on the club face permits a golfer to get a better feelof the required or desired path the club head must followboth on thebackswing and downswing.

Finally, a very important requirement for good golf. Av golfer will beforced to keep his club face'cleaned so that he can use the visualmeans, thereby getting the most out of his game by good alignment andgood solid contact of club face to ball.

While the invention has been particularly shown and k at ,07 1::

described with reference to. preferred embodiments there-1 of, it willbe understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and otherchanges in form and details may be made therein without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention. 1 5 5 i Whatis'laiiried is: T u I3 1. In a golf club of the'pu'ttei'typ, a 'club shaft and a pu tter headwith its face in"'a substantially vejrtical plane, improved ball-clubhead alignment facilitating and weighting means. on the club head, suchmeans compris ing, a weighted spherical section includirig a generallyspherical surface having the same diameter as a golf ball and whenviewed from above defining essentially a hemispherical mass, the sectionbeing,rigidiwith the top surface of the putter head and onta linethrough the head wher'e the head-meets the ball, and, an alignmentindicia on the spherical sectioi'i, "the alignment indicia provided bythe spherical section being cut at a r carward angle to the verticalplane so that the surface of the cut'presents a sector ofa circle, thecircle sector'havin'g a diameter the same as a golf ball so that whenviewed from above by a golfers eye with the curvature of the circle, thecurvature of the spherical surface, and the curvature of the ball beingslightly spaced from one another'and the center of the curvatures beingon a line extending toward the target, the club is properly positionedfor stroking the ball. 1 I

2. A golf club as defined in claim 1 wherein the eitternal surface ofthe spherical weighted section includes dimples simulating a golf ballcover. 1

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS .3,328,032 6/1967 Griswold273-464 3,343,839 9/1967 'BOIah' 273164 x 1,319,802 10/1919 Shfia.273-167 1,420,946 6/1922 Rodwell -3. 273-164 1,531,821 3/1925 Scott273-164 x 1,652,404 12/1927 Graveure 273-464 2,087,685 7/1937 Hackney273-169 x FOREIGN PATENTS 328,823 5/1930 Great Britain.

81,185 6/1922 Great Britain.

N ON 0. OECHSLE,Prir;1ary Examiner, R. J. APLEY, Assistant Examiner. V

